living_history (living_history) wrote in the_colony, @ 2010-12-13 23:03:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | ^ week 23, bridget mackenzie, leo parker, | bridget and leo |
Week 23: Monday
Characters Bridget, Leo, & Walker
Location Leo’s room.
Summary Bridget stops by to talk to the boys about Walker’s education.
Rating G
The northern winters were cold and grey, the hours of daylight waining even before supper time. At least during other seasons, a warm amber glow filled the countryside as the sun began to set, but today as the darkness came down on them, the light merely faded away and Leo’s energy faded right along with it. Stretched out on his side, Leo dozed in and out of a half-dream state; the closest he ever came to really sleeping. His back was to the open bedroom door and to Walker who sat on the floor between their two beds.
In the boy’s little hands was an old yellow toy dump truck, which he used to transport piles of pebbles from one side of the room to the other. He’d spent hours, collectively, gathering these rocks when Leo would allow him outside, and each one was specifically chosen for reasons only known to Walker. “Beep beep beep.” His voice was slightly hushed, so as disturb Leo as little as possible, but that was soon to be followed with the loud rush of stones pouring from the metal truck bed with a little too much energy. Pebbles clattered across the floor.
Bridget paused and smiled at the sight in front of her as she came to the door of Leo & Walker’s room. She’d meant to talk with Leo about Walker’s education since the duo had returned, but time had run away from her. That was something that had to change, she wanted to get things settled and a pattern established before the twins were born so there would be a routine to fall back on afterward.
She wasn’t sure if Leo was sleeping or not, so she just knocked lightly on the door frame. His eyes snapped open but he pushed himself up slowly; an attempt to look much less surprised than he actually was. Seeing Bridget standing in the doorway was a relief. That much was obvious in his softened expression.
“Bridget,” Leo regarded her as he sat up. Walker looked up from his rock collection with a smile.
“Hi Leo, hey Walker.” The way the man had tensed up at first before he saw who it was worried Bridget a bit, but she supposed it was going to take time before he felt comfortable with them again. Probably until his probation was up.
“Mind if I come in? I had something I wanted to talk to you two about.”
“Yeah, yeah... sure.” Leo gestured for her to come and sit down, subtly wiping at the corners of his mouth to be sure he hadn’t been drooling. “I was just... resting my eyes.” He offered the woman a smirk and straightened out his jacket. Walker scraped his forearm across the floor to make a path among the stones.
“I’ve been ‘resting my eyes’ a lot myself lately,” Bridget smirked as she waddled into the room, “and I haven’t been working nearly as hard as you. I think you’re entitled.” She messed Walker’s hair playfully as she passed him by, and moved to sit on one of the beds. He swatted at her hand and grinned. Leo smiled and looked down at his hands.
“What’d you want to talk to me about?” he asked, briefly glancing up.
“Well, I thought that since Walker here is willing to talk these days it might be time to talk to the two of you about giving him some more education. Which reminds me,” Bridget turned her attention fully over to Walker for the moment. “I saw on Jack’s cast that you know your ABC’s, and what your first name is. Do you want to still be called Walker or would you rather I call you Jamie?”
The boy deliberated on this for a moment, plucking the rocks up from off the floor one by one and tossing them into the back of the dump truck. Leo leaned back on his palms and watched. “It doesn’t matter,” Walker finally answered. “Everyone always called me Jamie... before.”
Hmmm...that opened up a whole new kettle of fish. Would calling him by his first name constantly remind him of what he’d lost or would it be a comfort? Bridget glanced over at Leo briefly, then back at the young boy in front of them. “Well then, why don’t I just keep calling you Walker for now and if you ever decide you want to go by your first name again you let us know, ok?”
Walker nodded quietly, and having finally picked up the last of his pebbles, the boy got up to sit on the bed beside Bridget. It was only a matter of time before he started eyeing her round belly again. The novelty would apparently never wear off. Leo watched him and wondered how excited Walker would be when the babies actually arrived. He hadn’t seemed nearly as interested in Kathleen and her pregnancy; then again, Kathleen always made Walker feel uncomfortable.
As Leo thought about these things, he found himself thinking back on the day before and the conversation he’d had with Alice about babies. She had asked him all those things and now she was gone. Gone with Jed. Leo sighed and rubbed at his forehead, frowning slightly at the floor before he closed his eyes and tried to focus on the present.
“So what did you have in mind? You have books and stuff, I guess?” he asked.
“We have some things for home schooling that we picked up before I quit going on raids,” Bridget nodded, giving Walker a brief tickle when he sat down beside her. He squirmed and grinned and settled quietly beside her. “Though since I’ve only got four students in three different age brackets we can tailor it a bit to each of them. I figured we can try to make it a bit more interesting than just reading out of a book, but we’ll have to do some of that.”
She let a hand rest on her stomach, both of the twins had been pretty active today and she was hoping that they’d settle down soon and let their mother rest.
“Walker and I will need to sit down sometime soon and figure out where he is academically, what his reading levels are, how comfortable he is writing and what he can do mathematically. Once we have that we can move forward.”
“Well?” Leo gestured vaguely with his hands and offered Bridget a crooked grin. “I think his schedule’s pretty flexible these days... so whenever you want him, he’s yours. Right, buddy?”
“Okay,” the little boy answered with a smile and an exaggerated nod.
“Great!” Bridget enthused, beaming at both males in the room. “Why don’t Walker and I get together after lunch tomorrow in the library and we’ll get all that figured out? Then we can plan on spending an hour or two a day on lessons after that.” Of course, Walker would still have assignments he’d have to do on his own but there would be time for that soon enough.
“Since he’ll be the only student in his class it should be easy to move things along,” she smiled at the little boy and ruffled his hair again. He smiled back and caught hold of her fingers, absently holding onto her with both hands. “After all, he’ll have me all to himself.”
“And then--” Walker thought out loud, his excitement growing. “And then--when your babies get here, I can teach them how to read.”
Bridget’s smile grew a little wider. “You’ll have to wait a few years before they’re old enough for that, but you’ll get your chance. I’m sure they’ll look up to you like a big brother.” She hoped that it wouldn’t remind the boy too much of his blood family, and that he’d like the idea of being a big brother to the children that were born here at the farmstead. It was doubtful that hers would be the only ones a few years down the road.
“Yeah?” Walker beamed. That one word, and the expression on his face at that moment made him look and sound just like Leo. It was a wonder the two weren’t really related. Leo smiled some and watched the two.
“Sure,” Bridget smiled at both of them and squeezed Walker’s hands before letting go. “Being a big brother or big sister can be a lot of fun but it also is a big responsibility. You’ll have to set the example because they’ll look up to you and want to do what you do.” Another smile as she worked to get to her feet. “You’ve got a little while before we have to worry about that though.”
“How long?” Walker peered inquisitively into Bridget’s eyes while Leo, having silently gotten up and crossed the room, reached out to the woman to help her stand.
“Thank you,” Bridget nodded gratefully at Leo as she used him for leverage, then turned her attention to Walker and his question. “I’d say you’ve got somewhere around a year at the earliest, they’ll have to be crawling at least.”
“Oh.” Walker curled up a little at the edge of the mattress, a little disappointed. Leo smirked and glanced up at Bridget, resting his hand on the back of his neck.
“I think he means when the babies’ll be born,” he said. He thought the boy had already asked that, but it had been back when they’d just arrived at the farmstead and things were busy and chaotic. If Bridget had already answered that question, both boys already forgot.
“Oh!” Bridget’s brow furrowed in surprise at the question. She was sure she’d told them before, but it didn’t really matter. “I’m due in about four more months, the end of April, so it’ll probably be a week or two before that since there are two.”
Walker’s attention shifted to Leo, who half-smiled and ruffled the kid’s hair. “That means you still got a ways to go, buddy.” Having lived with Walker so long, the man learned that from a child’s perspective, months were immeasurably long increments of time. “And Miss Bridget has a ways to go, too. So you gotta be extra helpful.”
“Okay.” The boy grinned again, always eager to help out. He took Bridget’s hand and held on tight. “Do you need help to walk back to your room?”
Bridget’s face colored slightly and she glanced over at Leo briefly, trying not to laugh and treat the question with the seriousness in which it was asked. “I don’t know about needing help just yet Walker, but I’d be happy if you wanted to walk me back.”
“Guess we’ll see you tomorrow, then.” Leo couldn’t help but to smile as he sidestepped out of their way and Walker tugged gently on Bridget’s hand.
“See you then.” Bridget replied, mirth clear in her voice and expression as she allowed the little boy to lead her out.